In a first-of-its-kind clinical trial, a human has received a 3D-bioprinted ear implant grown from the patient’s own living cells – thanks to a technology platform developed by a Cornellian-founded startup company.
This bioengineered breakthrough has the potential to significantly improve the lives of the approximately 1,500 children who are born annually in the U.S. with microtia, a congenital ear deformity. The approach could eventually lead to tissue implants for treating other conditions and traumatic injuries, reconstructive and regenerative therapy, and possibly even the biomanufacture of whole organs.
The company, 3DBio Therapeutics, was founded in 2014 by Dan Cohen ‘04, M.S. ‘07, Ph.D. ‘10, along with Lawrence Bonassar, the Daljit S. and Elaine Sarkaria Professor in Biomedical Engineering and in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the College of Engineering, and Hod Lipson, who taught at Cornell for 14 years and is now a professor at Columbia University.
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